black as sackcloth

The Greek in Revelation 6:12 that is translated as “black as sackcloth” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as schwarz wie ein Sack aus Ziegenfell or “as black as a bag of goatskin.”

sackcloth

The Hebrew or Greek which are translated into English as “sackcloth” are rendered into Chamula Tzotzil as “sad-heart clothes.” (Source: Robert Bascom)

Pohnpeian and Chuukese translate it as “clothing-of sadness,” Eastern Highland Otomi uses “clothing that hurts,” Central Mazahua “that which is scratchy,” Tae’ and Zarma “rags” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), and Tangale as “torn clothes that show contrition on the body” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). In the English translation by Goldingay (2018), “put on sackcloth” is translated as wrap on sack.

“In Turkana, a woman removes her normal everyday skin clothes and ornaments and wears rather poor skins during the time of mourning. The whole custom is known as ngiboro. It is very difficult to translate putting on sackcloth because even material like sacking is unfamiliar. The Haya, on the other hand, have a mourning cloth made out of the bark of a tree; and the use of this cloth is similar to the Jewish use of sackcloth. It was found that in both the Turkana and Ruhaya common language translations, their traditional mourning ceremonies were used.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing what a sackcloth looked like in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also mourning clothes and you have loosed my sackcloth.

complete verse (Revelation 6:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 6:12:

  • Uma: “After that, I saw that Lamb open the sixth seal. Suddenly there was a big earthquake, the sun became black like sugar-palm-fiber, and the moon became red all over like blood.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then I saw the Sheep remove the sixth seal. Immediately there was a strong earthquake. The sun became black like black cloth (naynay) and the moon became red like blood.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then I saw that the young sheep removed the sixth mark on the scroll. And then it earthquaked very strongly and the sun became black like sackcloth which was very black. And the moon became red like blood.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As I was watching, the Sheep detached the sixth thing-that-was-adhering/affixed. There was right-away a very-strong earthquake. The sun became-dark like black cloth and the moon, it became-dark-reddish like blood.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then I saw that the sixth fastening was removed next by the one referred to as Young Sheep. What else but the earth shook with maximum strength. And then the sun became pitch-black. Well, as for the moon, it became red just like blood.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Then the Lamb broke the sixth seal. Then I saw that the earth shook violently. The sun became black like black cloth. The moon became like the redness of blood.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 6:12

The opening of the sixth seal sets off a series of eschatological events (6.12-17); after an interlude (7.1-17) the seventh seal is broken (8.1).

When he opened: it is well to make the subject explicit, “When the Lamb opened.”

I looked, and behold: see 4.1. Revised Standard Version translates a Greek text that has behold (or “lo,” as in 4.1); this word is lacking in most manuscripts, and most modern translations do not include it. New Revised Standard Version has “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked….”

There was a great earthquake: earthquakes are frequently one of the great events marking the end of the age (see Isa 29.6; Joel 2.10; Hag 2.6; Mark 13.8). They are caused by God as a prelude to the Last Judgment. In languages that have no specific word for earthquakes, something like “a violent shaking of the earth (or, ground)” may be said.

The sun became black as sackcloth: this means that the sun stopped shining (see Isa 13.10; Ezek 32.7-8; Joel 2.10; Amos 8.9; Mark 13.24). Sackcloth is a coarse black cloth that was worn in times of mourning (see Isa 50.3). Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje translate here “a mourning garment,” “mourning clothes.” In certain languages the figure of sackcloth will be unnatural. In such cases one may say, for example, “the sun stopped shining and there was complete darkness” or “the sun became dark as night.”

The full moon became like blood: the moon turned completely red, as red as blood (see the quotation of Joel 2.31 in Acts 2.20). The translation should not say, or imply, that the moon became a liquid solution, like blood. The color chosen by translators should if possible be a dark red bordering on red purple. Translators in languages that have terms like “blood red” or “blood color” should use those. One may also translate became like blood as “turn red like blood.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 6:12

Paragraph 6:12–14

6:12a

sixth: This refers to the next item after five other things. If counted, this item would be counted as number six.

6:12b–14b

All of these events occurred when the sixth seal was opened. Probably 6:15–17 and all of chapter 7 also occur after the sixth seal was opened.

6:12b

(New Revised Standard Version) and: In Greek, 6:12b begins with the conjunction usually translated “and.” Here, the conjunction implies that opening the seal caused the earthquake and other events to occur. The Berean Standard Bible omits the conjunction and allows the context to imply its meaning.

there was a great earthquake:
The Greek clause is literally “a great earthquake occurred.” Another way to translate this clause is:

The earth shook greatly/terribly

earthquake: The word earthquake refers to the ground shaking.

6:12c

sackcloth of goat hair: The Greek phrase is literally “a hair sackcloth.” Sackcloth is a rough cloth. The threads of the cloth are thick and made of hair. So the simile probably refers to the rough texture and dark color of such a cloth. Use the word or phrase for a coarse cloth of this kind. For example:

coarse sackcloth (New Jerusalem Bible)

6:12d

the whole moon turned blood red: The Greek clause is literally “the whole moon became as blood.” This clause probably indicates that the moon turned the deep red color of blood. For example:

the whole moon became red like blood (New Century Version)

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